Obama nominates antitrust expert as regulatory czar

President Barack Obama announced yesterday that he will nominate Howard Shelanski, an antitrust expert, to be the next regulatory czar. The position, which holds the formal title of administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, is responsible for reviewing new regulations government departments propose.

Shelanski isn’t new to Washington. The lawyer and economist currently works at the Federal Trade Commission, leading a team of economists who review competition and consumer protection issues. He had also clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, worked as the chief economist for the Federal Communications Commission and was a White House economist during the Clinton presidency. Shelanski also spent four years on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley.

Shelanski will replace Cass Sunstein, who left the regulatory czar position in August 2012 to return to teaching at Harvard Law School.

"In my opinion, he's a home run," Yale University Law Professor William Eskridge said to reporters of Shelanski’s nomination.